


Strawberry🍓

by Savanna (orphan_account)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Fluff, House Party, Light Angst, M/M, Michelle Jones Is a Good Bro, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Oral Fixation, Peter-centric, Precious Peter Parker, READ THE TAGS AND THE RELATIONSHIP BAR YOU IMBECILES, Sassy Peter, Spider-Man Interacting with New Yorkers, Tony is struggling, YES THIS IS STARKER DONT @ ME, karen is lovely, peter goes to a party, peter parker in a suit, peter struggles, peter wants to answer people's questions about spider-man, tony struggles, why did this take me so long to write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-01 13:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16766242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Savanna
Summary: “O-Oral what?” Peter’s a teenager, when he hears oral he doesn’t think of speech or the dentist.“Oral fixation, Peter. It’s commonly described as a desire for constant stimulation of your mouth. Common stimulation is nail-biting, eating, smoking, etcetera. A person with this may be needy and sensitive to rejection.”“But that’s...It’s different when I eat versus the candy. And I’m not needy,” Peter huffs.Karen’s voice is unwavering in its kindness and patience. “I don’t believe you are either. Are you sensitive to rejection?”Peter fusses with his fingers and picks at his nails. “Well...isn’t everyone?”





	Strawberry🍓

**Author's Note:**

> fyi, it's a long story

“You’re disgusting,” Michelle says as she watches Peter chew on his pen. When Peter throws his hands up in confusion, pen held in his mouth, she points at it, “You got that from Ms. Green. The thing’s a germ generator.”

Peter rolls his eyes and takes it out. It had bite marks all over it, and as he looked at it, yeah it wasn’t very appealing. He shrugs and goes back to using the pen correctly, trying to get as much homework done as he can. Peter couldn’t help but chew on pens or pencils, especially right now. He just had this strange urge to have something in his mouth. It sounded weird, but Peter doesn’t think much of it until much later.

After school’s out, Peter goes on patrol. He chats with Karen as he swings through the city, looking out for any trouble. The wind feels great on him as he swings through the air, keeping him cool from the summer temperatures. School is going to be over soon, and Peter is excited. He talks Karen’s metaphorical ear off about it, telling her how he’ll have more time to keep Queens safe and spend time with his friends and aunt.

However, when he gets home to his and May’s apartment at 7:03 p.m., Mr. Stark is sitting on their couch. Peter’s eyes are wide as he takes off his backpack; he had left his suit on, too much in a hurry, and it peeks out from under his yellow jacket and jeans that he had thrown over it. He looks around for May, sees her in the kitchen making coffee. Peter walks over to the living room, then. “Uh, h-hey Mr. Stark.” He smiles.

“Mr. Parker,” Tony replies. He must have been at an important even before dropping by, because he’s got on a nice grey suit with a matching tie. Since when did Tony wear ties anymore? “I was wondering when you’d get back. Have a seat.”

Peter does, sitting in the armchair to the left. When May walks in with two cups of steaming coffee, Peter gives her a look, as if to say ‘what the hell is going on?’ He sighs when May doesn’t seem to notice, and looks back to Tony. “Uh, so what’s up, Mr. Stark?”

Tony raises an eyebrow, perhaps at the manner in which Peter asked. Tony takes a sip of the coffee May offered him, smiles politely as she sits down next to him.

Peter suddenly feels like he’s a kid in trouble by his parents, but ew, Tony isn’t a father-figure in his life. Maybe Peter considers Tony too much of his hero still, or maybe Peter is simply sick of random guys trying to take his father’s or uncle’s place. He sends May a look to let her know he’s feeling distressed.

She gets it and sets a soothing hand on his arm. “Peter, Tony and I were talking a little bit before you got home. He has an offer for you- for Spider-Man.”

Tony nods. “The truth is, people have a lot of questions for you, Parker. There’s a business party coming up in about a month, and if you’d like, you can attend. Of course, there’s a little risk involved, because you can’t just come out and say you’re Spider-Man, but there’s ways of answering everyone’s burning questions and getting your thoughts and goals across-”

“I’m in,” Peter bursts out. “I mean, I would love to go, Mr. Stark.”

Tony and May both look at him in surprise, but Tony must have said something because May has been smiling and looking relaxed the whole time. Tony smiles too, “Okay, if you’re sure, kid. I’ll put in a ‘plus one’.”

And so for a month and four days Peter is nothing but bundles of excitement and anxiety. He tells Ned and Michelle about it, because they both know his alter ego, and they ask him a million questions. Peter tells them what he thinks, that he wants to answer people’s questions, that he wants to make sure people know he cares about Queens and will not stop protecting it. Peter has been wanting to do that for a while actually, and that’s what he loves about being Spider-Man; he’s right in the everyday action, right there to hear people’s feedback and complaints and praises. He had always loved the thought of each city having its own small hero, and had always consider himself lucky to be one.

Peter also talks to Karen about it, having several aimless talks with her like he had when trapped in that shipment place thanks to Toomes. One talk is at a park at night, another at home, and another at the empty Stark Tower. The last had been fun and deep, Peter talking with her while messing with his web shooters and doing tricks around the empty rooms. There’s a room way up high where an empty bar still sits, and Peter does flips on it while asking Karen what a party would be like.

“I don’t know, Peter,” she says. “What do you hope it to be?”

It was a weird question; Peter always liked how Karen spoke. “I don’t know, but it’s important- Mr. Stark gave me a suit and dress shoes for it.” He shoots a web out at the chandelier and uses it to swing down from the bar. He walks around with the rope of web still in his hands, and starts to pace. “It’s going to be full of important people, so I don’t think I’ll get listened to by many people, but still...I hope some listen. I hope the reporters do, actually, because I really want my words to be reached by everyone.”

“Are you going as Spider-Man?” Karen then asks.

Peter shakes his head. “No, I couldn’t do that to May or my friends. Tony mentioned that I could act as Spider-Man’s, like, assistant or something. I don’t know what I’ll do, yet.”

“The party is coming up quite soon,” Karen reminds him.

“Yeah,” Peter sighs. He heard the chandelier rattle and lets go of the web so he wouldn’t accidentally break it. Then, there it was, that urge again. “Karen, is there a kitchen somewhere?”

“I believe a kitchen was put in the blueprints, yes. There should be one on the sixth floor.”

Peter heads to the stairway since the elevators don’t work. He wonders why going around in the dark like this is so fun, but not when chasing down bad guys or when he was home alone. When he was little, he had had fun running around the place May used to work at in the dark too.

Peter wanders around, tries every door until there’s finally an unlocked one. Peter opens it and found the remains of a kitchen, only the shelving and a toaster left behind. He didn’t have much hope, but he checks the cupboards anyway. “Yes!” he yells, finding something good unlike the left-behind coffee grounds and bottle of honey. There had been a bag of valentine candy left behind, tucked away in the corner. It had to be beyond old, but sugar is sugar so Peter tears into it anyway. He sticks the heart-shaped lollipop in his mouth as soon as he moves the bottom of his mask up to his nose, and he’s grateful that it tastes good still.

He hums and wanders out, bag of lollipops in hand, and walks down the hallway. “Karen?” He asks around the candy in his mouth. “I wish you could go to the party with me.”

Her voice is kind and full of warmth, more so than usual, as she replies. “Well, you can bring your suit with you. I’m always here.”

“I know, but like, I wish you could always be with me. I wish you could help me know who’s there, and what I should say, and if there’s any potential danger.”

Because he had said it softly, her reply is soft. “I would love to help you, Peter. I’m sure Tony can help you with those things just as well as I. He’s very informed about people in that sort of business.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Peter enters a room and webs himself a hammock. He lays down on it, holds the bag of candy on his chest, and lets himself get distracted by thoughts as he sucks on his second lollipop. He wishes they were bigger, like the tootsie pops instead of them being thin little hearts. “...Is it a mistake to go?” he asks. “What if I screw it all up?”

“I think you’ll do lovely, Peter.”

Peter smiles. “See, that’s exactly why I need you with me all the time.” His smile fades as he gave it some more thought. It would be dangerous to take his suit with him. Maybe he could hide it under his clothes? He certainly couldn’t take a backpack there, both for security reasons and because he’d get weird looks.

“Karen, can you call Mr. Stark?”

“Alright. Calling Mr. Stark...”

There was a beat, and then Peter sees that the call is connected. He spots Tony in the little square, their calls immediately video. Tony looked preoccupied, ordering someone to move something over a little. Tony then looks over, and Peter smiled at the funny ‘mom-angle’. “Hi Mr. Stark,” he says around his third lollipop.

“Hi Parker. Anything interesting up at Stark Tower?”

Peter shrugs; he knew Tony would find out somehow. “It’s not Stark Tower anymore, actually, but no it’s pretty chill up here.”

Tony eyes him, or what he could see of him. “Why are you talking funny?”

“Oh, I-” he pauses, takes his sucker out. “I found old candy in the kitchen.”

“You’re going to get sick,” Tony warns.

“I’ll be fine,” Peter objects. He pops the sucker back in his mouth. “Actually, I had something I wanted to ask you.”

Tony mumbles something about him missing his dress socks, a little distracted.

“Are you packing?” Peter asked.

Tony glances over at the screen. “Yeah, the party’s this week, kid.” He switches it over so it wasn’t a video, as he’s busy and all he can see was Peter’s upper face. “Are you packed?”

“I packed like a week ago. May and I got restless about it.” He tosses the bare stick down and unwraps another sucker. “But _anyway_ , I had a question. About Karen.”

“Karen,” Tony echoes. “Right, what about her?”

Peter hesitates then, and runs the sucker back and forth on his tongue as he thought about it. Would it be silly to ask it? Would he sound like a wimp? Would Tony think it was strange? Peter takes a deep breath; “Can you make Karen outside of my suit? I’d really appreciate it if she could be there with me at the party.”

Tony’s reply isn’t immediate. “Well, explain what you mean.”

“Um, I don’t know, Karen’s just really helpful and I could use her help to know everyone that’s there. Plus, I get nervous at parties and I’ve only been to a school dance, so...”

When Tony doesn’t answer, Peter stops sucking and holds the lollipop delicately on his tongue, waiting, fearing Tony would say no. But Tony lets out a little “yeah”, then says, “It’s a bit late notice but I can get it done. You know, you can leave the party any time. If it’s too much for you, just let Happy know and he’ll get you out of there.”

“Oh...Thank you, Tony.”

“You’re welcome Peter, and hey, you need to get home. It’s ten thirty.”

Peter’s eyes widen. “WHAT?” He jolts up and grips the sides of the web hammock, forgetting about the sucker. He then doubles over and chokes, and proceeds to fall out and onto the floor.

“Jesus, kid, I had the phone right by my ear. Could you not make awful sounds like that when you’re on the phone with me?”

Peter coughs, then clears his throat. “Well I literally just, ow, deep-throated a lollipop.” He rubs his neck, then realizes what he just said. “Uh, sorry. I just didn’t realize it was so late.”

Tony snorts. “It’s fine, just head home, kiddo. You’re a bit far from Queens.”

“Oh shoot, you’re right. Uh, bye Mr. Stark, I’ll see you Friday!” Karen ends the call for him. He hurries out to one of the unlocked windows, and starts to descend down the tower. He knew he’d have to use all his strength to get home fast, which sounded daunting but he knew he could do it. That’s when he realizes he left the candy behind, and when he sees the time stamp of their call, he realizes that he literally made Tony listen to him sucking on candy for ten minutes. “Oh shoot.”

He keeps his word and sees Tony friday, of course. After a morning of triple-checking everything that’s packed, and after a morning of May babying him and making him an elaborate breakfast, Peter’s picked up by Happy and driven to Stark Industries’ Aerial Center, where a jet is waiting. It’s only Peter’s second time in a plane, and he’s excited. He practically hops up the steps and inside, where Happy patiently takes his things from him and puts them away. Peter stops him only once to get his earbuds and the bag of tootsie pops he had May get him.

Peter sits down at a window seat, although almost all of the seats have a window by them. Happy sits as far from him as possible, but Peter doesn’t notice. Then, Tony arrives and gets on, a suitcase in tow. Peter smiles brightly at him, “Hi Mr. Stark!”

Tony smiles back, “Hey Parker.” He puts his suitcase away, then slides the curtain towards the cockpit open to grab himself a drink from the compartment. He takes a sip as he sits down across from Peter. “You excited?”

Peter nods his head impossibly quick. “Yes! I like plane rides...I think May gave me too much coffee this morning.” Peter sits back slow, dizzy for a moment. “But, I’m nervous too.”

Tony reaches into his pocket, knowing it was the perfect moment. He pulls out a small, sleek box and holds it out. “This might help.”

Peter takes it, having a feeling that he knows what it is, and opens the box slowly. Inside, a little device sits on packing foam. Peter looks up at Tony quickly, then picks it up. “This is Karen?”

“Yep. Just press the button and she’ll listen in. If you’re quiet for over ten minutes, then you’ll have to press it again.”

“...Cool.” Peter gently puts it in his ear. He hesitates to press the button, wondering how loud it will be, but Tony seems to have taken his super hearing into account because when he presses it, Karen says hello at a peaceful volume. Peter grins, “Hi Karen.”

“Hello, Peter. May I do anything to help?”

“Uh, well not really.” Peter rips open the bag of suckers and unwraps a red one, sticking it into his mouth. “I’ll let you know when you can.”

“Alright,” she says. “Have fun.”

“Thanks.” He then looks at Tony, “Thank you, Mr. Stark, really.”

They have a long chat while Happy sleeps. Tony wants to make sure Peter is okay, that he’s mentally prepared and has a plan. Peter explains what he thinks about it, explains why he wanted Karen with him.

Peter plans to ‘speak on Spider-Mans behalf’ by posing as the hero’s friend. Tony had mentioned being Tony’s intern, but that wouldn’t exactly explain his connections with Spider-Man, and then people would ask him about Tony instead.

Peter’s been nervously chewing on lollipops for their entire chat, and he can tell it’s annoying Tony so he stops and just holds one in his mouth. Before long, he finds himself playing with it with his tongue, and that annoys Tony too, who’s gotten a second drink now. Peter can’t help but grab another one when that one is done.

“ _Christ_ , kid. You’re killing me.”

Peter takes the tootsie pop out immediately. “Sorry.”

“I’m glad I’m not the one paying for your dentist bills,” Tony says, and he regrets it as he’s saying it. He sighs when he sees Peter’s shocked and then hurt expression. “Uh, sorry Peter, it was just a joke...”

“It’s fine,” Peter mumbles. He looks at the quarter-full bag of tootsie pops and sighs. Peter shouldn’t even worry, because he’s always had good teeth and the bills weren’t expensive, but he felt guilty for having May pay for it. Hell, maybe his healing factor took care of it, he didn’t know, but still. Peter sets the bag down on the floor of the plane and curls up on the chair. He stares out the window, well aware that Happy is now awake and that Tony is staring at him. Before long and without him really knowing, Peter’s got his finger in his mouth, his thumb just resting there against one of his top teeth. It’s a strange comfort.

It’s there again when Peter’s in his hotel room in LA, after his excitement had died down from being there and from his hotel room being huge. It’s late, but he can’t sleep when he’s a bundle of nerves, so he stays up and looks at the ceiling. His thumb his pushing against one of his molars, and he isn’t sure why he’s doing it. He’s got his candy but doesn’t want it, not after the guilt thing. Plus, he feels like they aren’t...enough. Candy really _had_ gotten smaller over the years, huh?

Peter frowns when it’s three in the morning and he hasn’t fallen asleep yet. Luckily, the party isn’t until eight p.m., but Peter would appreciate some sleep so he can go explore LA. With a sigh, Peter rolls onto his side and tries to will his mind to slow down and let him fall asleep.

“Yes, Peter?”

Peter jumps inches off his bed and falls back onto it, making it creak loudly. He puts a hand on his heart and whisper-screams, “The hell?!”

“I’m sorry, did you not press the button?”

It’s Karen. He had forgotten to take the earpiece out before going to bed. Laughing at his stupidity, Peter sits up in bed. “Um, yeah I did.”

“Do you need assistance?”

Peter bites his lip. Maybe having Karen around 24/7 wouldn’t be a good idea. He feels like he’d never go outside then, because talking to her always seemed to be enough in the moment. Still, he nods, “Can you...just talk to me?”

“Certainly, Peter. What would you like to talk about?”

So they talk, and it drowns out Tony’s heartbeat and breathing from on the other side of the wall. It drowns out Happy’s snores from across the hall, too. Peter talks to her about how he can’t sleep. Karen suggests tea with honey, and Peter knows there’s some in his hotel suite, but he doesn’t want to accidentally wake someone up by using the kettle or something. Peter tells her how he’s excited to see what people from outside of Queens think of him, of Spider-Man. Karen tells him he should be proud of himself.

Peter tells her of his strange obsession with candy, particularly lollipops.

“You have to be careful,” she says. “That’s a lot of sugar, Peter.”

“I know,” he mumbles. He doesn’t like to whisper, he figures Tony is asleep and will stay asleep, but he talks quietly just in case. “It’s not even really about the sugar, it’s just about...having the candy in my mouth.” Peter covers his face. “That sounds weird, but...Recently I just have this urge to have things in my mouth, and, well...”

“Hmm,” Karen says, and Peter agrees with that. She continues, though, “Perhaps it’s your body telling you something; I couldn’t imagine it wants so much sugar, however. There is something called oral fixation-”

“O-Oral what?” Peter’s a teenager, when he hears oral he doesn’t think of speech or the dentist.

“Oral fixation, Peter. It’s commonly described as a desire for constant stimulation of your mouth. Common stimulation is nail-biting, eating, smoking, etcetera. A person with this may be needy and sensitive to rejection.”

“But that’s...It’s different when I eat versus the candy. And I’m not needy,” Peter huffs.

Karen’s voice is unwavering in its kindness and patience. “I don’t believe you are either. Are you sensitive to rejection?”

Peter fusses with his fingers and picks at his nails. “Well...isn’t everyone?”

Karen chuckles. It’s unusual and Peter loves to hear it even though she’s laughing at him. “That does seem to be the case, doesn’t it? Well, oral fixation or not, there’s no need to worry, Peter. There are many people that have it, and most of them don’t know it.”

“...Really?”

“Yes.”

Peter turns and lays on his stomach, arms folded over the pillows. “...But what do I do? There isn’t anything that’s, like, _enough_ . It drives me crazy. My mouth is so sensitive because of that _stupid_ spider, I can just feel how empty it is.” Peter sighs.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know, Peter. I can do some extra research, and I’m here if you have anymore questions.”

Peter presses his face against the cool pillow. “...Thanks, Karen.”

He falls asleep eventually, and he feels okay when he wakes up the next morning. When he checks the time and sees that it’s eleven a.m., he jumps out of bed. Why had Happy and Tony let him sleep?! He was supposed to walk around LA.

Peter rushes to the door on the wall that provides a fire exit, the door situated between the two rooms. Peter bangs his fist on it, waits until he hears it unlock and Tony opens it. “Mr. Stark-!” He rushes forward and barely stops himself from crashing into him. “Woah.” He takes a step back, looks hurt. “Why didn’t you get me up?!”

Tony, dressed casual (with tinted sunglasses of course), raises an eyebrow. “Well I knocked on your door but you didn’t answer, and I figured that if you couldn’t hear it then you must’ve had a bad night.”

Peter falters, “Well, yeah I didn’t sleep well, but you should’ve woken me up anyway. I wanted to see LA.”

Tony chuckles and pats Peter’s shoulder. “Kid, we’ve got over eight hours to do whatever you want.” He points vaguely, “Happy’s still showering, he didn’t get up early either.”

Peter slouches, groans. He’s always been like this, impatient to go do things, upset to have to wait for people. Peter runs a hand through his messy curls and sighs. He turns, goes back to his room.

Peter grabs some clothes and decided that he should probably shower, considering he was going to a party that night. He turns the temperature until it’s practically scalding hot, although that’s difficult with hotel water. He makes sure the earpiece is out so it won’t get wet and ruined. When he’s clean and getting dressed, he makes sure to put it back in so he won’t lose it.

They go downstairs once everyone (Happy) is ready, and Peter thinks they’re going to eat breakfast at the hotel, but of course they’re not. It looks fancy and delicious enough, but Tony takes them in a rented camaro to a restaurant a few miles away, and they eat there instead. Besides the few people ‘sneaking’ photos on their phones of Tony, it goes well.

Then, Tony tells Peter that they can go do anything, and Peter gets overwhelmed. There’s a Science Center, but Tony shoots that down, says they didn’t come here for schooling. There’s several museums, there’s Universal Studios, an observatory, the hollywood walk of fame, there’s the Hollywood sign itself, several piers and boardwalks, a shopping spot on Rodeo Drive that Peter is immediately scared of, an art walk, and so much more.

After many helpless ‘I dont know’s, Peter finally decides what to do. He checks out all the celebrity stars and was surprised that Tony doesn’t have one, visits some of the attractions in Universal Studios and was so amazed by the 3D ride for Transformers, stops several times for snacks and ice cream by the pier and boardwalk, and is reluctantly dragged to the most expensive stores he’s ever seen and was so confused that several of them had bodyguards just so celebrities could shop in peace.

Peter returns to his hotel room at around six so he can sleep a little, exhausted from the stress of travelling to all these places even though it had been Tony driving and finding parking spaces. When Peter slides his key in and unlocks the door, he steps in and sets his things down on the marble countertop of the kitchen, then promptly collapses onto his bed. Tony ended up buying him a few things; several snacks like waffle fries and ice cream, an expensive watch solely to look good at the party, matching Harry Potter figurines for him and Ned, and Universal Studios hoodies for him, Ned, and Michelle.

Peter sleeps for a good forty minutes, and then Happy wakes him and tells him to get ready. Peter still has time before he needs to get dressed, but Happy and Tony knew he’d want some time to think about what he was going to say tonight.

Peter gets up and digs in his backpack for his spider-suit. He looks down at it, debating whether to take it or not. It’s a huge risk, and he’s got Karen, but...

Peter closes the backpack and goes to the closet. His black suit hangs there, a slightly shiny material. His dress shirt is white, his tie and pocket square are patterned violet, and his dress shoes are shiny black. It sounds simple, but it looks like the most expensive and fancy thing he’ll ever wear in his life. Peter slowly puts it on, then goes to the kitchen and puts the silver watch on; he admits it looks pretty nice with the outfit, and he likes that the guts/mechanics of it are visible inside the glass.

He feels like he’s as ready as he’ll ever be, then. He paces a little, looks up real quick when there’s a knock on the open door between his and Tony’s room. Tony is standing there, hair gelled a little, dressed in a black suit with a black shirt and red tie. He looks sharp, handsome, and sexy all in one. Tony whistles, “Lookin’ sharp, Parker.”

Peter blinks. “Uh, yeah. You too, Mr. Stark.”

They take a different camaro over to the mansion that the party’s in. Peter doesn’t know who the place belongs to, but it doesn’t matter to him for long, because suddenly he’s getting out of the car and Tony is bouncing up the steps while waving to all the flashing cameras. Happy had gracefully stayed back to lead Peter in, and the cameras flash at him too. People ask him why he just came from the same car as Tony, and Peter’s mouth is too dry to answer. Happy makes sure he gets inside and away from the crowd. It’s insane how drastic the volume is to Peter once he’s inside. Sure, there’s chatter and an uproar of talk at certain people that walk in, but it’s so much better than the yelling reporters and their cameras.

Happy leads him to a side room that seems just as big as the main hall. “You just stay to the side, kid. If you need something, call me, okay?”

Peter nods. Happy walks off then, likely to reunite with Tony. Peter glances around at the people in the room. Everyone’s beautifully dressed, and he knows he is too, but he still feels out of place. He smiles politely at everyone that makes eye contact at him, which is a lot of people as he wanders throughout the many rooms. There’s an empty dining room, a large kitchen covered with food (he takes a few things to nibble on), a ballroom that people are actually dancing in (he strays clear of that), some rooms to the side that look like study rooms or libraries, and more.

Peter sighs in relief when he’s all the way across the mansion’s first floor and finds a bar. He wants something for his dry throat, something to hopefully make it easier to talk to people. Peter walks up, goes to speak, but the bartender cuts him off.

“Parker?” the bartender asks.

Peter nods, albeit confused.

“Stark made sure I had drinks for you.” At that, Peter can feel a few people turn their heads. The bartender pulls out something that very much looks alcoholic, sets it down on a small napkin. “Virgin Margarita,” the bartender says, taps his knuckles on the countertop, and then turns to get a woman in a sparkly dress something to drink.

Peter eyes the drink in front of him, picks it up, and takes a sip. It’s good, basically a slushie. He doesn’t want to be in the way, so he moves off to the corner of the room, but feels too weird to sit down at the chair there. He drinks the margarita while going on his phone to distract himself and appear busy, although he’s hearing so many conversations at once that it’s hard to read the snapchat captions he’s seeing.

Peter had expected things to be different. He’s not necessarily disappointed by it, it’s still a great party. He just wonders how and when he’s supposed to speak on Spider-Man’s behalf.

“Parker, was it?” someone says.

Peter looks up, is met by the amber eyes of a pretty blonde woman in a slim black dress. He turns his phone screen off, “Um, yeah that’s me.”

The woman smiles. “Hello. My name is Christine Everhart, from Vanity Fair Magazine.”

That piques Peter’s interest. He smiles, “H-Hello Ms. Everhart, it’s nice to meet you.” He slips his phone in his pocket and shakes her hand. “Um, is, is there something you wanted to ask me?”

Christine smiles. “Yes, actually. I couldn’t help but notice that you arrived with none other than Tony Stark.” She tilts her head, “Can I ask how you’re affiliated with him?”

Peter hesitates, but nods. “Mr. Stark has assisted Spider-Man in the past. I- I’m Spider-Man’s closest bud. Mr. Stark and I know each other through him.”

Christine is visibly surprised. “Wow, Spider-Man,” she says. “Can I ask you some questions about him?”

Peter nods, “Sure, yeah, that would be great.”

Christine gestures, “Let’s go somewhere more quiet, okay?”

Peter follows her through the small rooms, up to the second floor, and across the balcony that looks down onto the main hall. Peter can see Tony still there, talking with some men that surround him. Peter looks back to Christine, follows her black dress to make sure he doesn’t lose her. She opens a door to a well-lit room and closes it behind him. It’s a bedroom, and Peter feels his hair stick up from the spider sense, but he sits down on the bed anyway.

“Sorry about this, I know it’s not the best place to talk but no one will bother us here.” Christine sits down, then, and begins to ask him questions. She has a recording device, so Peter makes sure he’s careful of what he says. They talk for a while, Peter answering her questions about why Spider-Man chose Queens, how he was taken under Tony’s wing for a while, etc. A lot of her questions are Tony-based, but Peter doesn’t mind.

After about twenty minutes, the door suddenly opens and Happy stands there. He gestures, seems out of breath and not happy. “Come on kid, let’s go.”

“What-”

“ _Let’s go_.”

Peter looks at Christine apologetically, then slips out of the room and follows Happy who’s already hurrying across the balcony. “Happy? Happy what’s wrong?”

Happy grabs him by the arm and pulls him close as they walk downstairs. “Boss doesn’t want you anywhere near her.”

“What? Why?”

“She’s crazy in love with him. Got into stuff with Justin Hammer. Do I have to explain further?”

Peter frowns. “No...but she was asking me about Spider-Man, she works for Van-”

Happy stops in his tracks and turns around. They’re back near the bar. “Peter, forget about it. There’s plenty of people here who can listen to you talk about you swinging around in pajamas, okay?” Happy sighs. “Tony’s on my ass about this, so just listen.” Happy walks off, then.

“...What the heck?”

Peter gets another non-alcoholic drink and stops by the kitchen for a snack. He goes to a room where there’s a few people but not a ton, and sits down in the armchair in the corner by the bookshelf. There’s a cherry on top of his drink, and he ties the stem into a knot with his tongue absentmindedly.

He wants to see Tony and talk to him, but it seems impossible. When Peter checks the time, he sees that it’s already nine and he’s only talked to one person.

Eventually, though, people approach Peter out of curiosity, as he’s one of the youngest people there and he’s a fresh face in the crowd. Peter talks to them, repeats over and over how he’s connected with Tony, talks about Spider-Man. He doesn’t mind repeating himself one bit, happy that someone will listen. He doesn’t see Christine for the rest of the night, so he’s pretty relaxed.

At a little after ten, Peter wanders to the main hall. People have cleared, but it’s still busy. He looks around for Tony, spots him, and they make eye contact. Tony looks like he’s trying to get to him, but everyone is stopping Tony to say hello. Peter moves to the side, leaning against the far wall and keeping an eye on Tony as he waits. He wonders, then, how late Tony plans to stay. Peter wants to talk to him about a few things, but he feels like their conversation won't be long.

Peter glances around himself, then pulls out a lollipop from his inside jacket pocket. He had brought one, just in case. It seems to not help just this fixation thing, but it seems to dial his anxiety down too. As soon as it's unwrapped and in his mouth, Peter relaxes. Maybe it's simply a great way for him to distract himself. 

"You're the guy speaking on Spider-Man's behalf, right?" comes a voice from beside him, and Peter turns quickly to see a man in his mid-thirties sporting slacks and a buttoned suit jacket. He has a glass of nearly just ice in his one hand and a cigarette in his other. The man smiles when Peter meets his gaze. "Hello, I'm Elijah Cole." Elijah maneuvers his cigarette to his other hands, then holds his free hand out.

Peter shakes his hand, "...Hi, I'm Parker."

Elijah smiles enthusiastically, then returns his cigarette to its place. "So what's it like? I had a feeling Spider-Man couldn't be working on his own."

Peter raises an eyebrow, and takes the sucker out of his mouth. "What makes you believe that?"

"Well, you can have all the superpowers you want, but there isn't much you can do on your own. There was the Avengers, and we've seen how well things have gone when Rogers strayed away."

Peter chuckles awkwardly. "I guess that's true...Spider-Man did have some help from Tony Stark, but he works mostly on his own. I know him more as a friend than an...assistant." 

Elijah perks up, "Oh yeah? I suppose he does pretty well, he's clearly athletic. He doesn't just wander around Queens all willy-nilly, though?" Elijah glances, "You seem athletic yourself. Does he make you tag along?"

"Um, no," Peter glances over and tries to see Tony through the crowd. There isn't anything necessarily wrong with this Elijah guy, but Peter's instincts are kicking in and he feels like he should get away. "I go to the gym," Peter lies.

"Oh, I used to go too. What do you do?" Elijah seems a little more than drunk right then, appearing to be the chatty type. "Do you have a trainer? It seems like you've done a lot, you look strong and flexible."

Peter sends another glance to Tony, who he sees is trying to get past a particularly enthusiastic guest. Peter looks back at Elijah, "I- I guess so. I can do back flips." Peter shrugs. He figures Elijah will laugh, or say something about him doing flips when he was younger, but Elijah just inches closer and nods attentively. "...I'm going to go get a drink, I think." Peter gestures with the sucker, then turns.

"Oh, mine needs to get topped off, I'll go with you."

Peter mentally sighs, but lets Elijah walk with him out into the hallway and down towards the room where the bar is. However, just as Peter sees the bar from the doorway, Elijah pulls him into a side room and swiftly shuts the door. Peter turns around and puts himself an arms-length away, only to hit his back painfully against the edge of a counter-top. Peter looks up at him, expression worried and questioning. He leans back against the counter as Elijah advances. "What do you want?"

Elijah sets his glass down and puts his cigarette out in the melting ice cubes. He puts his hands on the counter on either side of Peter, and smiles, "Parker...I saw you messing around all night, ogling everyone."

Peter furrows his eyebrows in confusion, "What? I wasn't, I was-"

Elijah moves closer, pressing himself against him while smirking. "I saw you practically putting on a show for everyone with those chocolate strawberries."

Peter starts to understand where the man's coming from, now, at least a little bit. Was his oral fixation really that bad to where he didn't notice it? He thought he had just eaten them normally, truly. "I, look sir I didn't mean anything by it." Peter tries to slide away, wanting to be polite in case this guy is just drunk and not knowing what he's doing. "I'm sorry but I'm not-" Peter's sentence gets choked off when Elijah's hand goes dangerously low.

A horrid feeling settles in his gut. His eyes are wide as he pushes against Elijah's shoulders, making the man stumble back. Peter knows he looks afraid, because honestly he is. “W-what's your problem?!” 

Elijah scuffs, a smile playing on his lips. “Oh come on, let's have a little fun.”

“No, let's not.” Peter steps forward so his back isn't digging painfully into the countertop. “Please leave me alone.” He side-steps and tries to get to the door, but Elijah stops him and grabs onto his clothes roughly. “Hey- Hey, this suit's expensive! Leave me alone!” 

“Quit your yelling.” Elijah grabs his wrist. “Just suck on your candy and let me-” His hand goes low again. 

That horrid feeling punches him in the gut. Peter reacts quickly, shoving Elijah so hard the guy flies against the wall. Peter panics and hurries out into the hallway. He reaches up to press the button for Karen, but then he hears Tony call out for him. 

Peter looks around, then sees Tony shoving his way through the crowd. Peter glances and realizes the wall has a hole in it from pushing Elijah. Oops, he thinks. 

Tony grabs him by the arms, “Are you okay?! What happened?” 

Peter's mouth goes dry, and he can only stare at Tony for a minute who looks so worried. Then, “I...The man, he- I'm sorry, I ruined the wall and now everyone's looking and I made you worry-” 

Tony frowns, goes to say something, but then he looks up and sees a man walk out of the room, holding his head in pain. “Is that him?” Tony asks. “What did he do?” 

Peter opens his mouth to say it, but there's people looking. He blushes, stands on his tip toes just a little and whispers it in Tony's ear. He can't say it outright, but Tony gets what he means immediately. 

Tony looks furious, but rather than chasing Elijah down, he has Happy go talk to him. Tony then holds onto Peter's arm, and he smiles his way through the crowd while dragging Peter towards the entrance. 

“Are we leaving-” 

“Yes,” Tony answers coolly. 

When they walk outside, some reporters are still there, and they snap photographs immediately. Peter tries to hide behind Tony a little while Tony lets go of his arm. As soon as they're in the camaro, Tony locks the doors and turns in the driver's seat. “Are you okay?” 

Peter blinks. He hadn't expected that question. “Yes, I'm fine.” He nods. “Mr. Stark I-” 

“He didn't do anything except that?” 

Peter nods again. “No, it's okay. I'm sorry, it's my fault. He was persistent and I didn't try enough to get rid of him. I made him misread the situation because-” 

“Wait, did you flirt with him?” 

“No, no! He thought that I-” Peter cuts himself off. It's embarrassing, he realizes, and he doubts he could say it to Tony. He avoids Tony's gaze then and looks down at the sucker still in his hand. 

“Christ, Parker.” 

Peter snaps his head towards him, confused as Tony sighs and runs a hand over his face. Peter tilts his head, “What?” 

Tony looks at him with a defeated expression. “Was it because of the sucker?” 

“Uh- Um,” Peter's cheeks heat up. “...Yeah. I'm sorry, I never meant for him to think anything of it, but I've been bothered for like over a month now and I just don't notice it when I do it!” He bites his lip. “...He said it was the strawberries, actually...” He looks down at his hands in his lap, still holding the sucker. 

Tony scoffs. He runs a hand through his hair, his watch peeking out from under his jacket sleeve. He looks tired. “It's pretty much everything,” he mutters. 

Peter takes a minute to understand, then looks over at him. “...What?”

Tony meets his gaze, and regret is plain on his face. “Oh, uh well, it's just so obvious. You did it with all those stupid popsicles on the pier, and-” 

“You- You said I could have as many as I wanted!” Peter protests. 

“I know I said that. But then you had more than five of them, and then you got the cotton candy and-” 

Peter's blushing to his ears now. “Was I that bad? It was just cotton candy!” 

“Yes but you were practically tongue-fucking it. Er, sorry kid, I didn't mean to say that.” Tony exhales deeply through his mouth. "You just have to be more aware."

Peter nods solemnly. "I know. I can't help it, though...Karen, uh, Karen says it's oral fixation? I don't know why I got it suddenly, but it's been torture. My senses are heightened, and I just _feel_ it, and nothing seems to make it go away. It's the worst." He fidgets with his watch, playing with the metal strap. "Sorry for making a scene," he says. "In there, and when he went out today...and the airplane. I didn't mean to irritate you."

"Look, Peter, you don't have to apologize. I can handle you making faces, okay? It isn't the end of the world. You just have to be more aw-"

"F-Faces?" Peter looks frightened to hear that.

Tony eyes him. "...Yeah, you tend to look...a certain way when you've got stuff in your mouth." Tony suddenly turns and straightens in his seat. "God, I shouldn't be saying it to you, it doesn't matter." He starts the car, and after backing up, he drives off.

"What about Happy?" Peter asks as Tony drives too fast down the road.

"I told him to check that guy out. He'll catch a ride, he said."

"Oh." Peter looks out his window. It was late and dark outside, the road barely illuminated by scattered streetlights. Peter puts the sucker back in his mouth so his hand is free, and he welcomes the strawberry taste.

They're silent for a few minutes, Tony focusing on driving them back to the hotel. Peter tries to forget the embarrassing conversation they just had, but he wonders. Is Tony annoyed by it because it makes a scene, or is he annoyed because it affects him? Peter doesn't know if he wants the latter to be true or not. What if it affects Tony but Tony doesn't actually like him? That would just make Peter feel bad. 

He's so curious, though. He sneaks a glance; Tony seems to be fine, eyes on the road, relaxed as he drives. He's going almost ten over the speed limit, but Peter figures there's an unspoken rule that you _have_ to drive fast in sports cars. Peter looks back out his window before Tony catches him looking, but a few seconds pass and he glances over again. He's curious. What would he even do if it was true?

Peter takes the sucker out of his mouth, hesitates, and then licks it obscenely, going from the bottom by the stick up to the top of it. He does it a few times, then sucks on it loudly as he hollows his cheeks a little. He takes it out with a quiet _pop_ and licks it again. He doesn't dare look at Tony, at least not yet. Even as he does this, his mouth aches. It isn't enough.

When Peter pulls it out a second time, Tony hits his hand on the steering wheel and yells, "For fuck's sake just finish it!" Peter bites down in surprise, startled by the man's outburst, and bites right through the stick. He looks over sheepishly, and around the sucker, says, "'m sorry."

Tony huffs, tries to keep his eyes on the road, and unintentionally picks up speed. "Are you doing it on purpose?? Are you trying to kill me?" Tony glances over, then does a double-take when he sees Peter's expression. He scoffs, "You totally are. Lordy, Peter, _why_?"

"...I d- I'm sorry-"

"Tell me why," Tony repeats. "Because depending on the answer, we might have a problem. Just lay it out, Parker."

Peter pushes the chunk of the sucker to the side of his mouth so he can speak better. He hesitates before he answers. "...I was curious. I didn't know what the reason was, for why you were bothered by it...I, I was hoping you-"

"Okay."

"But-"

Tony shakes his head. "That's enough."

Peter goes silent at that. He feels hurt, feeling rejected. The rest of the ride to the hotel is completely silent.

When they're back in their rooms, Peter gets comfortable in pajamas. It's late, but he doesn't want to sleep, so he wanders around his suite for a bit after hanging his suit up. Peter then sees one of the shopping bags, and he digs around in it for his Universal Studios hoodie. He slips it on over his t-shirt and smiles a bit at how soft it is. As he stands still, his hearing picks up on Tony in the next room, who is getting changed based on the sound of fabric moving. Peter sighs as he looks at the closed door between their rooms.

He reaches up and presses the button on his earpiece. Peter smiles at hearing her voice. "Hey Karen," he says, not bothering to whisper, not really caring if Tony hears him. 

"It's late," she notes. "How was the party?"

Peter starts to pace the floor in front of his bed. "Well, I talked to a lot of people about Spider-Man. They were really curious about me. It was nice to know what people were wondering, y'know?"

"That sounds wonderful."

"Yeah...I liked the atmosphere. Everyone looked really nice, and everyone was talking and enjoying themselves. I didn't want to be away from school, but it was worth it."

"That's good," Karen says. "You sound a little sad, though, Peter. Did something happen?"

Peter laughs miserably and collapses onto the bed, splaying his arms out and staring up at the ceiling. "Apparently I'm oblivious to things despite heightened senses. Ironic, right?

"What do you mean?"

"It's what you said. I gave some people the wrong impression because of it. I never meant for the guy to think I was into him. I just had wanted a distraction, and the kitchen wasn't nearby." Peter sighs and lowers his voice. "Now Mr. Stark is mad at me. I...I went too far."

"...It seems to me that your oral fixation isn't limited to just one particular area."

"Huh?"

"Oral fixation can be sexual as well, Peter. It's in your everyday life, but it doesn't necessarily stop there. Perhaps people have been mistaken because you've been leaning towards the sexual side. And, I don't believe Mr. Stark to be mad at you, but he might be frustrated by it."

Peter scoots up and pulls the blanket over him. He curls up on his side and says, "...I think you're right." Peter internally groans. It's not like he had meant it to be sexual, not with those at the party. With Tony, it was a little different. Peter would be lying if he hadn't thought about something _else_ being in his mouth. It had crossed his mind when he had the popsicles; not Tony's, but just one in general. Now, though, he was thinking about it. He knew he shouldn't, because Tony wasn't into him, but he indulged in it a little. 

Peter pulls on the ends of his sweatshirt sleeves, giving him sweater paws, and holds his hands up to cover his mouth. He slowly opens his mouth, wondering how wide he can open it, feeling the way his jaw moves. 

Tony knocks on the door suddenly, then opens it slowly when Peter doesn't answer. He pokes his head in, looking worn out, and then walks up to Peter's bed. He turns and sits down on the edge of the bed, and Peter sits up, getting ready for a talk. Tony looks at him, and holds something out. "Gum should help," Tony says quietly. "And Happy's back, he got a ride with a reporter who's staying at this hotel."

Peter takes the pack of gum from him. He figures he should thank him (he needed more gum for school anyway), but he can't bring himself to do it. He looks up at Tony who's waiting for him to say something. "...Are you disgusted by me?" He asks, merely a whisper. He brings his knees up and hugs them.

Tony frowns at him, looking concerned. "No, I'm not." He then seems to realize what Peter's talking about specifically. "Pete, look. I don't think it's gross, I get it, a ton of people have it. And I'm not judging you, if you like guys- I don't know if that's what you meant-"

Peter shakes his head.

"Okay." Tony stops for a moment, thinks for a little bit, and then pats Peter on the knee. "I'll tell you this much. You drive me crazy. It had crossed my mind when you broke into Stark Tower, with the call. But I didn't actually think about it until the plane ride. I told myself to just leave it alone, and I did, but now you pulled _that_ in the car." Tony leans, presses his hand on the bed, making the area sink a little. He tilts his head. "I don't know why you want to kill me, but you know that I can't. That you and I can't. You're...sixteen?"

"Seventeen...almost."

Tony stares. "You're not making this easy for me."

Peter dares to look at him with a small smile playing on his lips. "...I don't want gum, Mr. Stark." He sees something shift in Tony's expression. "I don't want candy either."

"I get it, I get it."

Peter hugs his knees tighter and rests his head on them. "I want you." His cheeks are hot as he blushes. He knows exactly what he's saying. He doesn't know what to expect, though. 

" _Christ_."

Peter tilts his head. "The candy isn't enough. The popsicles don't-"

"Peter I swear, if you don't shut up, I'll-"

Peter raises his head high. "Make me then," he says. He knows how he'd prefer that to be done, and he knows Tony knows it too. Peter gets a little frightened by Tony's expression, though, knowing Tony's strict beliefs about 'respecting the adults'. "...Please, sir," he adds softly.

Well.

When they fly back to New York and Peter gets home, he talks with Karen in his room after telling May about the party and all the stuff Tony bought him. Peter tells Karen that she was right, and he thanks her, specifically for letting him talk about normally awkward things like this. He ends up telling Ned, although definitely not in detail, because he knows it'll slip some day anyway; he tells him about Elijah, and how he's over it. He mentions how protective Tony had been, how he wanted to make sure Peter was okay before they ever even thought about doing something. He leaves it vague enough though that Ned blasts his phone with questions.

When Peter goes back to school, he spares his pens and pencils, and chews on the gum Tony gave him instead. He gives Ned and Michelle their gifts, tells them it's courtesy of Tony Stark which surprisingly gets him on Michelle's good side for the day. Ned is stoked about the figurine and the matching sweaters he and Peter have (Peter made sure that Michelle had her own unique one, knowing she'd prefer it that way), and when they get time to themselves in class, Ned tries to pry information out of him.

"You were so vague in your texts," Ned complains. "What exactly happened?"

Peter sighs and looks up at him through his safety goggles. "I already said, I can't tell you, dude. Tony would kill me."

"Tony? What happened to 'Mr. Stark sir'."

Peter shoots him a look for the teasing, but then he bites back a smirk as he debates saying something. "...I don't know, man, I feel like you should be on a first name basis with them if you've sucked their dick."

Mouth hung open and eyes blown wide, Ned nearly has a heart attack.

**Author's Note:**

> i'd write the smut part if I wasn't such a chicken lol


End file.
